[PRESS RELEASE] WeGO ’champions’ of the future gather for first online orientation session
The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) held the first orientation session with the youth participants of its newly launched ‘WeGO Smart City Champions’ program aiming to build the capacity of young people in South Korea and abroad in the smart city field. The 15-week program (March 4 – June 12) consists of lecture series and capacity-building workshops.
March 4, 2021
SEOUL – Participants of WeGO’s Smart City Champions program gathered for the first time today for an online orientation session about the upcoming 15-week program. 130+ students from South Korea and overseas joined the one-hour orientation session to learn more about how the program will unfold over the next coming weeks.
The WeGO Smart City Champions is youth program aiming to build the capacity of young people around the world in the fields of urban development, sustainability, and smart cities. Open to anyone under 35, the program is divided into two phases: Phase I consisting of lectures that aim to equip participants with the conceptual knowledge of smart cities, and Phase II designed as capacity-building workshops where students work in teams to come up with innovative solutions to smart city challenges.
Phase I lectures (March 4 – April 24) will cover various smart city topics, ranging from digital ethics, emerging smart technologies, open data, and cybersecurity. The lectures will be given by experts in the given fields including professors, heads of institutions and corporations. Each of the six lectures will be followed by a quiz designed to evaluate the participants’ understanding of the course material.
During Phase II (April 25 – June 12), youth participants will team up in groups of 5 to 10 and prepare project plans that outline the clear steps, methods, and stakeholders to solve a pressing smart city challenge. They will then work to further develop these plans through live workshops using design thinking methodology for three weeks. These sessions will enable them to learn lessons from key experts in the field, receive overall guidance, as well as network with each other and exchange ideas across teams. The interactive aspect of Phase II aims to not only to provide students with the opportunity to develop their problem-solving skills, but also encourage interaction between the participants and strengthen their team building skills.
At the end of the workshop series, three teams with the most innovative, creative and practical solutions will be selected as winners and rewarded with an award signed by the President of WeGO and Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government Se-hoon Oh, as well as prize money. Other participants who fully complete the program will receive a certificate from the Secretary General of WeGO.
But the program does not end with the competition. At the end of Phase II, WeGO will actively support and incubate the ideas of the winning teams by connecting them to smart city professionals and other experts, allowing them to put their ideas into practice. Finally, they will have the opportunity to present at the Seoul Smart City Leaders Forum organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in October and WeGO’s Year-end Ceremony in December.
Today’s orientation session served to introduce the content and guide the participants through the logistical details of the program. WeGO’s Secretary General Jung Sook Park opened the orientation session by welcoming the students and giving a brief overview of WeGO and the background for the program.
“As we enter a new and more digitized post-covid era, the role of WeGO as a platform for global knowledge exchange is more important than ever, enabling the global smart city community to learn from each other and adapting quickly to the fast digitization we are witnessing,” she said. “I would like to welcome you to take part in the WeGO family and becoming the young urban leaders of tomorrow.”
Furthermore, Junseok Hwang, Director of the Seoul National University (SNU) Global R&DB Center gave welcoming remarks and explained how instrumental WeGO’s work has been for cities and smart city development since the organization’s establishment in 2010. He also congratulated the participants for having taken the initiative to join the program.
“Youth who are invited here are the leaders of our society. […] I don’t believe that smart cities are driven by technology; they are driven by people,” he said. “I hope all of you benefit from this program, […] that you make a road for the rest of your generation, and also give guidance for our future smart cities and communities.”
Participants were very eager to start the program and meet and interact with their fellow champions.
Approximately 200 young people registered for the program and come from WeGO’s partner universities and beyond–including the Catholic University of Milan, Chengdu University of Technology, Dongguk University, Edgelands Institute, Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Kookmin University, Korea University, Seoul National University, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Korea, and Yonsei University–, and the program continues to gain interest of more academic institutions around the world, demonstrating the relevance of the program for youth in the field of smart cities.
Some of the professors from these universities serve on WeGO’s newly established Advisory Board, and were instrumental in shaping the format and content of the WeGO Smart City Champions program.
A couple of these schools have also included the program in their curriculum and will provide credits to students who complete the 15-weeks.
As a newly launched flagship program, the WeGO Smart City Champions intends to ensure that smart city development is inclusive and focuses on youth as the leaders of tomorrow, in line with WeGO’s 2030 vision of creating citizen-centric smart cities emphasized during the 2022 WeGO Activities Kick-off Event held on February 23. Through the program, WeGO also aims to bridge the digital divide, which was accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, WeGO seeks to equip students with the core skills linked to the 4th Industrial Revolution, which will boost their employability and help them access the competitive job market.
The program is now closed for enrollment, but WeGO calls on other interested stakeholders to solicit the interest of youth in building more inclusive smart cities.
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About WeGO
The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), established by 50 founding members in 2010, is an international association of city and other local governments, smart tech solution providers, and national and regional institutions committed to the transformation of cities into smart sustainable cities
WeGO’s Secretariat is based in Seoul and supported by regional offices in Africa (Abuja, Nigeria), East Asia (Chengdu, China), Eurasia (Ulyanovsk Region, Russia), the Mediterranean (Beyoğlu, Turkey), and Latin America (Mexico City, Mexico).
WeGO has more than 200 members around the world and serves as their international platform to improve the quality of life, innovate in the delivery of public services, and strengthen regional competitiveness.
Press Contact
Alizée Rousset
alizee@we-gov.org
02-720-2931